Kos tourist trains alert

Archimedes: September 2013

Tourist trains, open-top coach companies and other may face new regulations as island authorities toughen up regulations. It follows rows over which companies get to run the most profitable routes as firms try to cash in on the popular tourist train trips.

The Mayor of Kos Costas Kaiserli says the city council will discuss proposals to issue regulations and establish rules and best practice guidelines for companies running tourist trains and open-top bus tours of Kos.

It comes after complaints that holiday tour companies make no contribution to the upkeep of roads they use and do nothing to ease the congestion they cause for other drivers.

Proposals include a call to impose a tax on tour tickets to help compensate for the traffic and road problems they cause in the city of Kos.

Thousand of holiday visitors take train trips around the city to see the main sights of Kos. The number of open-top buses operating in Kos has also risen as tourists queue for sightseeing rides.

A report to the Kos city council says: "The movement of such vehicles burden the infrastructure of the island and also require an update of traffic studies to also take into account this factor."

Top tourist holiday attractions in Kos include the Asklepion complex four kilometres to the south-east of Kos Town and set on hillside terraces, the 14th century Castle of Knights and several large excavation sights on the outskirts of the city.

Some firms are claiming a monopoly on the most profitable routes but city officials are calling for more transparency and fairness in the allocation of routes and the building of necessary infrastructure to make tours as safe as possible for passengers.

The large rise in cruise ship visitors this year has led to speculation that the port authorities may set up their own rival tourist trains to compete with those that operate in the city.

The Mayor said it was "unthinkable" that the port would be allowed to set up rival tourist trains to cash in on the cruise ship arrivals when the city has spent so much in supporting marine tourism in the past.